Roblox
A guide for families with key information about ‘Roblox’, including the age rating, key terminology, risks and instructions for enabling parental controls and safety settings.
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Roblox is a tremendously popular free online game creator platform where over 50 million daily players come together to play, create and share experiences. Instead of being just one game created by a large gaming developer, there are various types of games available in the Roblox library which are user-generated, meaning they have been built by public members of the Roblox community. There are currently over 24 million games available on the platform. As the games are user-generated, the options of games available to play continually changes. The popularity of individual games on the platform changes frequently, but there are long standing favourites such as Adopt Me, Jailbreak and Bloxburg.
Official age rating
This is a PEGI rated 7 Game.
Roblox is PEGI rated 7 but users need to be particularly careful with this rating because Roblox is not one game but a constantly evolving library of games. The formal PEGI rating therefore only covers the basic system and Roblox sample games.
The App Store rate Roblox as 12+ whilst Google Play have rated it as ‘Parental Guidance’. There are no age verification methods used when creating an account, so ensure your child has entered their correct date of birth to benefit from some of the safety settings.
The terms of service for Roblox states that under 18s should seek parental consent to use the platform.
Find out more about age ratings in our ‘A parent and carer’s guide to age ratings of apps and games’.
How children and young people use the app
Roblox is a free, fun and social game where young people can easily make friends and interact with people from around the world. They can build, create and engage in imaginative play as well as communicate with each other. Children and young people enjoy Roblox because of the endless variety of new kinds of games and modes to try. These range from murder mystery to obstacle courses or roleplay. They can also customise their avatars and homes with furnishings to impress their friends through in game purchases. It is a game popularised as a platform of creativity with a big online community.
Key features and terminology
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This mode allows you to play with other people. This can either be with selected friends or with other players you may not know.
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The chat function allows players to communicate with each other within the app or game.
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This is the in-game currency used to make purchases on the platform.
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Groups exist for all types of communities – fan clubs, help groups, hobbies etc. Users can set up groups or join groups that interest them.
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This is an easy-to-use coding language and is embedded in Roblox. It gives younger players the opportunity to learn some basic coding to build a 3D world.
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This can be used to customise Roblox objects and games by using the Lua to code.
Potential risks
Content
The most notable content risk to be aware of in Roblox is that it houses a user-generated library of games, so the potential to see inappropriate content is always there. There have been cases of new games being uploaded to the Roblox platform which contain explicit images and content and because the platform is user generated, this content is not always taken down immediately. Role play games on the platform such as Brookhaven have been called into question after players were able to simulate sex acts, with in-game chat contributing to the sexual narrative within the game. These games are sometimes referred to as ‘Condos’. It is important to check in on the content of the game your child is playing because new games become popular all the time and appropriateness of the content may change. It is important to note that games on the platform can be easily replicated, changed very slightly and subtly renamed. This results in some younger players accessing a game which they think they have played before, that now contains content which they were not expecting and may be harmful. Parents should regularly check the games their children are playing and vet the content first before their child plays it independently.
Parents and carers should be aware that when ‘Account restrictions’ have been enabled, players can only access the Roblox curated content on the platform, which are generally rated under 13. These games may contain some mild cartoon combat, but the list is restricted to only games that are less violent and do not feature guns. It is recommended that parents and carers should play the games alongside your child to ensure the games they are accessing are suitable for their age and stage of development.
The in-game chat function is often where players may stumble across inappropriate content in the form of bad language. Whilst Roblox has in-built chat filters to remove inappropriate content from the platform, these are not always effective. Whilst this safeguarding measure is in place to help protect younger users on the platform, it should not be solely relied on as a means to avoid exposure to inappropriate content. It is still possible that your child may be exposed to bad language or mature content within the chat function. By restricting who your child can access on the platform, your child is less likely to experience language or behaviour that is not suitable for their age.
There has been speculation of a game known as ‘The Game’ being launched on the platform, which supposedly encourages self-harm. Whilst there in an ongoing investigation into the validity of this claim, parents and carers should frequently monitor the content of the games their children play and talk about the harmful content they could be exposed to.
Roblox has expanded on the types of games and themes that can be offered on Roblox, notably for young people aged 17+. Roblox has stated that this content may feature more references to adult topics such as intense violence, alcohol, and gambling. Whilst this content requires age verification to use, it is especially important that parents and carers ensure that account restrictions are enabled to help prevent your child from seeing harmful or confusing content on Roblox. Information about setting account restrictions or designating allowed experiences can be found in the ‘Managing interactions and content’ section of this guide.
Connecting with others
The most significant risk on Roblox is the interactivity, as it is a platform that is popular with adults and children and young people alike. This risk can be managed for children and young people by setting ‘Account restrictions’. There have been cases where predators have used the platform to initiate a relationship, gain contact details and move them to another chat platform. Speak to your child about the risks of chatting with strangers and explain the importance of not sharing any personal or identifiable information with other players within chats. Encourage them to tell you if they have been asked more personal questions or have experienced anything that makes them uncomfortable within Roblox chat. Some gamers use third party chatting apps like Discord to chat whilst gaming. Ask your child if they are using any additional chatting apps whilst playing and check who they are communicating with. Although chatting is an appealing part of gaming, it is not essential in order to play.
User behaviour
Roblox has its own set of Community Rules, which all players must adhere to in order to play. Players who deviate from the expected behaviour risk being removed from the game. Speak to your child about what is appropriate behaviour when playing a multiplayer game and ensure they know how to report inappropriate or offensive behaviour. All players should be careful about what they share within in-game chat. Ensure your child knows it can be difficult to keep ownership of any content once it has been shared online, as it can easily be copied and reposted without their knowledge and can then become difficult to remove from the internet. Players who also want to create and develop their own games on the platform should be mindful of what is and is not appropriate to share. Remind players that they have a responsibility to conform to the community rules and should not produce anything that other players could find upsetting or offensive.
Design, data and costs
Roblox is free to play but does have significant in-app purchases. These can be very persuasive for younger children who spend a lot of time on Roblox, and they may not understand the risks of spending money in this way. Speak to your child about in-app purchases and ensure they understand that real money is used to make purchases within the game. You can also set up relevant in-app purchase settings on your device. It is also important to check that the game is not linked to your bank cards or financial details. It has also been reported that Robux have been used to exploit some younger players on the platform, with the promise of Robux in exchange for chats and interaction. It is important that your child knows to tell a trusted adult if they have been asked to chat in exchange for Robux.
Tips for keeping your child safe
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There are comprehensive safety settings available on Roblox within the settings menu. Here you can enable ‘Account controls’, which requires a PIN to make changes to any account settings and set ‘Account restrictions’.
To enable ‘Account controls’:
- go to your account settings by selecting the three dots icon in ‘More’
- select ‘Parental controls’ and toggle the ‘PIN’ option
- create a PIN and confirm it (once a PIN is enabled, it will be needed to make any changes to the account settings)
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Within the settings menu, there is the option to set ‘Account restrictions’, which limits playable games and restricts contact and messaging from other users. When these restrictions have been enabled, players can only access the Roblox curated content on the platform.
Parents can now set ‘Allowed experiences’ which will help determine the content seen by your child on Roblox. These settings are for all ages, 9+, 13+, and 17+ respectively. Parents and carers should note that to adjust allowed experiences, they will need to disable Account Restrictions, which set allowed experiences to ‘All ages’ by default.
To enable ‘Account restrictions’:
- go to the ‘More’ menu by selecting the three-dot icon
- select ‘Parental controls’ and toggle the ‘Account restrictions’ option
Once these restrictions have been enabled, they make changes to all the contact settings, found on the Privacy option on the menu.
You can choose not to enable restrictions. Instead, work through the ‘Privacy’ menu and choose the relevant ‘Contact settings’ suitable for your child. You will be given the option to choose from the following for each option:
- Everyone
- Friends and Users | Follow and Followers
- Friends and Users | Follow
- Friends
- No one
To configure your child’s ‘Allowed experiences’:
- log into the account you wish to adjust experiences for
- select the gear icon in the top right corner to adjust ‘Settings’
- choose ‘Parental Controls’
- under ‘Allowed Experience’, select the level of experience you want the account to join
To configure your child’s ‘Allowed experiences’ on a mobile device:
- log into the account on the Roblox app
- choose the three dots ‘…’ in the lower left corner
- select ‘Settings’ in the pop-up menu
- choose ‘Parental Controls’
- under ‘Allowed Experience’, select the level of experience you want the account to join
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Users can report and block other users who may be bothering them or behaving inappropriately on the platform.
To report a player:
- select the Roblox icon on the top left of the screen
- select the flag icon located next to the user’s name and choose the ‘Report’ tab
- work through the listed options to complete your report request
To block a player:
- visit the user’s profile page
- select the three dots menu in the upper right-hand corner
- a menu will pop up where you can select ‘Block user’
To report a game:
- find the game you want to report and select the three-dot icon
- choose ‘Report’ and select the reason why you are reporting the game
- select ‘Report abuse’ to confirm
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Whilst there are no time management options available in the settings menu, you can make changes to limit the number notifications your child receives. This may help them benefit from some screen-free time where they are not bombarded with Roblox notifications.
To change the notification options:
- go to the ‘More’ menu by selecting the three-dot icon
- scroll down to ‘Settings’ and select ‘Notifications’
- here you can select what notifications you want to receive from the following options:
- I receive a friend request
- Someone accepts my friend request
- I receive a private message
- I receive update notifications
- Analytics report becomes available
- toggle off the ‘Mobile push’ option to stop notifications appearing on the devices’ home screen
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Account deletion means all your information will be permanently deleted and cannot be restored. To delete an account on Roblox a user must submit a support request. Users will need to know the email address that they used to register with for Roblox.
- on the support request page, select ‘Type of help category’ and choose ‘Data Privacy Requests’
- a new category should appear under ‘Data Privacy Requests’ Select this category and choose ‘Right to be Forgotten’
- in ‘Description of Issue’ explain that you would like to delete your account
- press ‘Submit’ (Roblox may have additional identity verification steps to ensure the user is asking for an account deletion)
Additional tips
There is detailed parent information available in the ‘About’ section of the main menu, which you can access by clicking on the three dots.
Roblox has a dedicated parents information page which provides parents with more information about the platform.